Post Capture
by Mesataki
Summary: A dark take on Pokemon storage. I will not be held responsible if you never look at a PokeCenter PC the same way ever again. Rated T for a morbid theme and implications.


I was caught when I was young, and I have been here ever since I was changed. I imagine we had all been caught by the same human – had you fought a Charmander like I had? No? You had been attacked by a Charizard? Hm… It has also changed. Perhaps we do not suffer all the same fate. Perhaps I am just ill-fated. Perhaps we all are.

It – the human – will never release us. Forever, we are bound to this place. Few understand the nature of this dimension, even fewer understand why we are all here. Regrettably, I am not one of the few, though I may have the rest of eternity to fathom this place. I feel sorry for you – pity even, but in all actuality…

I feel even more pity for myself.

Do you know what it feels like to change – see the happy expression of its face only to be stowed away like nothing more than a tool that's outlived its usefulness? I've seen others pass in and out of this world, but I have always stayed. Others eventually joined me; you can even ask them yourself. Understand what I say: _It captures you, changes you, then it throws you away_. I will never be free again. _We_ will never be free again.

And despite this – there are others who never even learned of freedom. Have you met Elly? The Elekid? He was hatched in broad daylight. He saw the sun once, then never again. In this dimensions, he will forever be young, unknowing, uncaring. No will. He has never been free; he will never learn of the open skies and taste of ripe berries. We who are captured, are the lucky ones. Be thankful for this one gift, for it is the only one we have in this place. The _truly_ lucky ones are the Charizard and his teammates. They breathe fresh air and know the love of the human.

Do you remember the taste of freedom? Of course not. How could one such as young as you savor it? After so many long years- or what has it been? It is hard to tell. But I digress. The long years have sharpened my taste for open territory. Not a night has gone by when I have not yearned for home – the tall grass and absence of major predators. I desperately seek return, even if it means to be dumped into an area where I will not survive. I want a reachable end to my life – eternity is too long to live. You will know that all too soon how time passes by. Fighting amongst each other is the only haven for activity, but the mind slows down when there is no purpose.

Have you met Freem, the resident Butterfree? She is lost, unaware of her own existence. Do you see how she just lies on the ground? How others poke and prod her, but she never moves? That is all of our fate. This is the price of _eternity_. I have only managed to avoid this fate because I have given myself purpose. I explain – I tell others of their fate. What they will become. What _I_ will become. What we _all_ will become.

I was the first caught. I will be the last one sane. See how long we can keep this game up – I know I have. I have beaten dozens of others. You will succumb in time, and your last coherent thought will be hateful of me. But I do not care. They will be the thoughts of the insane.

Go. Go ahead and leave. Try to find a way out. You will find there is none…

You there. You are new, aren't you? I will tell you something, and you will listen because you will be starving later – starving for interest. Hear me:

I was caught when I was young…

~ * ~

_Many centuries later…_

He pushed through the rusted doors, careful to avoid broken glass. The elders had called this place a PokeCenter. They said it was a place of healing, but he never understood what they meant of it. There was no magic here, but he was always curious.

His sister pushed past him, growling cheerfully, "You better walk faster if you hope to become Alpha one day!"

"I did not ask you to come with me, Laika – leave."

She merely turned around, her tail brushing his nose in a taunting manner. "Come now – we're siblings, are we not, Laiko? I've always wanted to see the ruins of old."

The Growlithe did not reply, and he pushed on instead, his sister following him with light footsteps. Together, they approached a strange looking object in one corner. It was a flat panel, resembling something reflective in the old days. There was something below it – a board with various ruins painted on it. Laiko thought it was paint, at least. This machine had been present at every PokeCenter, and he had always asked the elders of its purpose. They always called it a dimension of eternity. He never understood it.

But there was some sort of odd feeling he had, growing in his breast whenever he stared at this machine. He could never figure out what he felt. Guilt maybe? Regret? He felt something.

Laika, however, was not one to merely regard an object. She reared up on her hind legs and began pressing down on the boards without abandon.

Shocked at her recklessness, Laiko growled, "Stop! You will awaken the spirits of this place!"

"But they look like they do something," she insisted. All of a sudden, the object began crackling. Laika backed off immediately, her ears drawn back in anticipation.

It gurgled, it hissed. Then, it started spewing something – red and white spheres. There were countless of them littered all over the floor, and the siblings had to dance to avoid being hit by the ballistic balls. The object soon stopped with a dying hiss, leaving the PokeCenter in complete silence once more.

Laiko studied the sphere at his feet intently. What use did the old ones have for them? He prodded it gently, and a red light suddenly escaped from it. A Raticate materialized. But something was not right about it. Its eyes seemed lost as if it was staring into infinity and would not move no matter how much he pawed at it.

"These…" he struggled to find a word for it. "These things have Pokemon in them!"

Laika's jaw was open in amazement, and she nudged the one next to her – and behold, a Buttefree!

"Imagine how the pack would regard us! Food – available at the nudge of sphere!" Laiko exclaimed.

"I agree." Laika nodded rapidly. "But before we go, can I have a light snack?"

"We will share – this Raticate looks decently healthy."

"Let's eat, then."

~ * ~

_He was the first caught, the last sane, and the first dead._

~ * ~

A/N: This idea came to me when I was reviewing someone's fic. It talked about HM slaves and the neglect that they get for being useless. A while back, I read another fic that talked about what happens to that Pichu you decided not to rescue in PMD because it was simply not worth your time along with the countless of others. There are things people do that they don't realize. Trapping Pokemon in an eternity of PC storage is one of them. I slightly apologize for the dark nature of my stories – I am simply a morbid person that indulges too much on the fragility of life.

Mostly, I'd blame it on English Class in high school. They were always talking on the flaws of humans. It kinda got to me. XP


End file.
